Don’t Need Nothing But A Good Time?

When it comes to worship some will claim we need to have more emotion. More uplifting singing, better feel good lessons, an increased desire to praise the Lord. It got me to thinking about the emotions that would be necessary for one engaging in the worship of the Almighty. So I began to look at scripture that linked the two. In that research, I noticed an emotion that is regularly linked to worship, but isn't often brought up - Fear.

In all those that talk about increasing emotion in worship, I can't say I remember anyone exclaiming we need more fear in worship. However let’s consider some verses:

Psalms 2:11-12

Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Hebrews 12:28-29

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Revelation 14:7

And he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water."

Deuteronomy 6:13

"You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.

The fear we need to have in worship is the utter respect and reverence towards God. It’s not a fear that shocks us and then goes away, but the stark realization that we are standing before something that is totally all encompassing and greater than us. It is the view of the ant before the elephant, knowing we stand powerless before something so massive we can't even begin to grasp his size. The fear that comes from knowing that we are so little and God is so lot. That kind of fear makes us realize that something that powerful is not to be toyed or trifled with. Our worship must seek to please him. A fear that brings the realization that the person I should be most concerned with keeping happy in this place is not the tiny humans surrounding the thrown but the One that sets upon it.

So many for the problems we face in worship today- the apathy, the selfishness, the arguments over details,- would be solved if we added the right amount of fear to our worship. Fear of the Lord would cause us not to seek what we wanted in worship, but simply what is pleasing to the One who deserves our worship!

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